Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller has shown plenty of fight

The NHL saw how well Bruins defenseman Kevan Miller can fight when he overpowered Montreal's Travis Moen last week. Miller doesn't go looking for fights, but he wont' back down when challenged.

Mike Loftus The Patriot Ledger

WILMINGTON – Kevan Miller knew it was coming and why.

Next, Miller made it look like he definitely knew what he was doing.

In reality, the Bruins’ first-year defenseman hasn’t fought all that much during his three-year pro career, although that wasn’t evident last Monday night. Travis Moen sustained a concussion after challenging Miller to a duel and hasn’t played for the Canadiens since.

The challenge was one Miller had to accept, the fight one he wished he didn’t have to have. It came after Miller bumped Montreal’s Dale Weise from behind at the bottom of the faceoff circle, sending Weise crashing hard into the boards at TD Garden.

“I felt bad about the hit,” Miller said. “I just kind of bumped into him and I think he was a little off-balance.”

Miller, penalized for cross-checking Weise (who sustained an upper body injury on the play and also hasn’t played since), took no satisfaction from seeing Moen helped off the ice by teammates, either.

“He was just sticking up for his guy,” Miller said. “I think he kind of knew I felt bad (about the Wiese hit), but at the same time, he had to stand up for his teammates. That’s kind of the way things go.”

A godsend on defense since late December when the Bruins recalled him from AHL Providence for the third and final time after Dennis Seidenberg’s potentially season-ending knee injury, Miller has also proved equally adept with his fists. He has fought four times – always when called out and usually against established battlers like Moen, who has fought more than 70 times in his 680-game NHL career.

At 6-2, 210 pounds, Miller has the size and strength to take care of himself and his teammates. What the 26-year-old lacks is experience: The Los Angeles native, who spent four years at the University of Vermont before signing with the B’s as an undrafted free agent in October 2011, never played in a league that permitted fighting until reaching the AHL.

“It’s new to me – very new,” he said. “I’ve probably only had about 20 fights, ever, so I’m learning as I go.”

It’s anyone’s guess as to whether Miller will be asked to fight more, or less, since the rest of the league has seen the Moen fight. Miller entered the NHL as a relatively unknown commodity after fighting fewer than 20 times in 21/2 seasons at the AHL level.

“Whether it creates more fights, less fights, I don’t know,” said veteran winger Shawn Thornton, the Bruins’ most accomplished fighter. “I just think people probably won’t underestimate Millsy when they step in.”

Miller hasn’t picked a fight yet. Sharks veteran Mike Brown, who has had 75 fights in the last six years alone, and the Senators’ Zack Smith, both objected to being checked by Miller and challenged him. Miller’s third fight, against Montreal’s Brandon Prust, was Prust’s idea: The B’s had just taken a 2-0 lead halfway through the second period and Prust was pretty clearly trying to create at spark at the Bell Centre.

That’s probably how it will stay.

“I try to be an honest player,” said Miller, who has collected a reasonable 36 penalty minutes in 42 games. “I’m not going around chasing guys, trying to be an idiot.

“For me, fights happen when they happen. I just try to play my game and if it happens – that’s the way it goes.”

The way Miller has played (plus-17 in roughly a half-season), that’s probably the way it should be.

“There have been five or six guys who have been able to (fight) all year,” Thornton said. “(Miller) has been one who’s stepped up in that regard.

“More important, though, is how he’s played for us. He’s played some really good minutes for us and some really big minutes for us. He’s been unbelievable – a really welcome addition.”

AROUND THE BOARDS

Center Patrice Bergeron, 5-1–6 and with a goal in all four games, was named the NHL’s Second Star for last week … The B’s will try to extend their franchise-record road streaks (9-0-0 and 13-0-3) in Wednesday’s nationally televised game at Detroit (8 p.m., NBC Sports Network, WBZ-FM/98.5), then play Thursday night at Toronto.

Mike Loftus may be reached at mloftus@ledger.com. On Twitter.com: @MLoftus_Ledger.

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